Higher Learning
by Jon Emery
Summary: Charmed spin-off, set at Magic School. A new face is about to shake things up a little... slash.
1. Fire and Ice

**Higher Learning**

The pyrotechnics room was oppressively hot. Danny rarely found this fact surprising, but it certainly made the task at hand incredibly uncomfortable. Ever since the incident the week before, Paige had insisted that Danny spend at least an hour each day in here practicing his gift. At first he had resented it, but deep down he knew that he couldn't just walk around ignoring his powers – he'd almost burned a house down that way.

Danny was hot. Literally. On his thirteenth birthday, instead of blowing out the candles he had incinerated the whole cake. That was the first sign to his parents that he was a little _different. _He'd been sent to child psychologists, priests, and had even endured a stint in a young offender's unit before people realised that he wasn't starting the fires on purpose. Shortly before turning sixteen, he had met a man who called himself Gideon. Gideon knew other kids who were different, and a place where Danny would be safe and where other people would be safe from him. Since meeting Gideon, Danny's life had changed almost beyond recognition.

That was just under two years ago. Gideon was no longer around, due to something that their new guardian, Paige Matthews, refused to tell them about. Paige's whitelighter Leo, who also happened to be an Elder, had been around a lot for a while but then he was called Up There on official business and they didn't see him so much anymore. The Elders had sent someone else down as a sort of go-between, a new whitelighter called Brigitte. She was somewhere between school nurse and guidance counsellor, and she held a wisdom that didn't quite fit her pretty, young face.

Magic School was a pretty extraordinary place, but for quite a while things had been running very ordinarily. Until last week. Danny had spent countless hours honing his ability until he could start and extinguish the tiniest flame or a huge blaze, but last week he had lost his temper during an argument with his friend Micah and a table had burst into flames. Ever since, he had been unable to keep a hold on his powers. Brigitte had checked with the Elders, and they seemed to think that his powers were progressing. Not that he believed them – progress suggested moving forward, but he felt as if he were right back at square one. Hence his regular visits to the pyrotechnics room, a safeguarded space where he could burn away to his heart's content and not worry about hurting anyone.

Danny stood in front of a wooden dummy, watched the flames licking at it, and tried his hardest to put them out. He held his palms out in front of him, cleared his mind of all other thoughts, and focused on the fire, focused on extinguishing the heat. Closing his eyes, he felt a chill pass through him and he knew he had done it. Grinning, he opened his eyes and got the shock of his life. The dummy was covered in flame-shaped ice. He had put the fire out, alright – he'd frozen it solid.


	2. Miss Matthews

**Higher Learning**

Danny barged into Paige's office without knocking, ignoring her startled yelp, and proceeded to panic. In a major way.

"I don't understand," he said when the rant had finished. "Fire is my thing. I'm good at fire. Why do I get lumbered with ice as well?"

Paige stood up from her desk, slightly taken aback by the sheer energy of the young man's anxiety.

"I think it makes sense." She said. "Fire and ice are polar opposites, right? Maybe your powers are some kind of supernatural thermostat."

Danny stared at her in abject confusion.

"A thermostat?"

"Yeah," Paige nodded encouragingly. "A similar thing happened to my sister. She had the power to freeze things, and then she got the power to blow stuff up too. Apparently, it's all about the movement of molecules. I never really understood it that well."

Danny shook his head.

"You mean this is permanent? Not just some magical screw-up?"

"Well I could ask Brigitte to go Up There and check, if you like."

"Would you mind? 'Cause I gotta say, this has got me pretty freaked out."

Paige agreed to talk to Brigitte the next time she saw her, and Danny left. A few minutes later, the recently conjured Mr Right came out from under the desk, and continued the private lesson with Miss Matthews.

"You should be glad you've got a new power," Rosario said at lunch. "This glamour thing gets dull after a while – I mean, why would I want to look like someone else, when I'm so flawless to begin with? I'm telling you, those Higher Powers seriously messed up when they were handing out the magic."

Danny laughed. It was amazing how Rosie could take anyone's problem and turn it into her own. It was helpful, in a way – it distracted him from his new 'gift'.

"I guess ice wouldn't be so bad..." he mused. "I was just so surprised, I mean, it's trouble enough trying to control fire. Every time I get angry, things heat up. Do you think I'll start being cold to people now? Like, literally cold?"

"I don't know," said Rosario, changing the colour of her nail polish with a blink. Deciding she didn't like it, she shook her head and the purple returned to a dark blue. "But just think, you'll be handy to have around in winter _and_ summer now!"


End file.
